Full fashioned knitting machine



I May 3, 1932. B E. PFUELLER 1,857,102

FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE- Filed March 6, 1931 Maw L1 Attorneys Patented May 3, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BRUNO E. PFUELLER, OF READING,

PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HAL]? TO E.

LOUIS KOTZEN, OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE application filed March 8, 1981. Serial No. 520,488.

elevation of a usual full fashioned knitting machine showing a preferredembodiment of my improvements, the relative length of the machine being shortened by breaking away intermediate portions between the vertical dotted lines, and closing-in of the end portions.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view through a knittin section of such known machine and showing particularly the usual mounting of the cock boxes and their common operating bar.

Fig. 3 discloses diagrammatically a modified construction of my improved operating mechanism.

The known full fashioned knitting machine indicated in the drawings is of the usual multi-scction construction each section having as heretofore, and shown in Fig. 2, a needle bar 5, with its complement of needles 6, a cooperating series of loop-forming sinkers 7 an actuating series of jacks 8 for the latter. and a slur cock 9, carried in a cock box 10 mounted for traverse on slur cock bar 11, said slur cock 9 being adapted in well known manner to progressively act on jacks 8 to advance the sinkcrs 7 between the needles 6 'all as heretofore and readily understood.-

The cock boxes 10 of the several sections are jointly reciprocated on bar 11 through a known connecting bar 12 secured to the several boxes and extending lengthwise of the machine. Friction box rod 15 is also commonly traversed with connecting bar 12 through a slide block 16 mounted on guide bar 17 said block being connected 'to bar 12 and having a post extension 18 secured to rod 15. The parts thus briefly referred to are old in the art and their operation well understood. 1

The reciprocative traverse of the connecting bar 12 is a recognized important movement in full fashioned knitting machines and I has. commonly been effected heretofore through a known coulier movement and a lever oscillated thereby, said lever having an intermediate connection to said bar 12 and necessarily exerting a pushing action on the advanced portion of said bar at each oscillation. The lever 22 is commonly conveniently located adjacent one end of the machine, and

the bar 12 is necessarily of greatlength and limited cross sectional area, so that such pushing action on bar 12 tends to cause a slight buckling thereof with consequent derangement and inequality in the action of the slur cocks 9 as compared with their actions during reverse drawing of the lever in the following bar reciprocation. This inequality in the actions of the slur cocks 9 in sue cessive reciprocations causes imperfect fabric due to inequalities in the sinker formed loops, and the object of my improvements is to overcome these inequalities by improved traverse operation of said connecting bar 12, as will now be described In Fig. 1 I have indicated the usual coulier motion mechanism as readily adapted for my improved operation of the connecting bar 12, said mechanism comprising pitman 20, pivotally supportedby the usual end levers 21 and 22, and oscillated in known manner by cam wheel 23 engaging antifriction rollers 24, 24 on said pitman. Herctofore lever'22 extended upwardly and was connected to bar 12 to actuate the latter. For my present purpose lever 22 merely supports one end of the pitman as shown, and I employ flexible connections extending to the opposite ends of bar 12, which transmit the oscillations of said pitman to said bar by exerting endwise pull only on the latter in reverse directions. In order that the pitman 20 may correspondingly reciprocate the bar 12 as heretofore, the right hand end of the latter is connected to the left hand end of the pitman, and similarly the left hand end of the bar connected to the right hand end of the pitman. And furthermore that my improvements may be readily applied to knitting machines now in use, in which the bar 12 travels double the travel of pitman 20, I have indicated flexible connections which will impart this ratio of movements.

Flexible connection from the left hand end of pitman 20, consists, preferably, partly of chain to bend over guide rollers 41, and its rod portion ending in a wheel 4:2 intermediately engaging a chain 43 having one end fixed at 44 and its other end secured to the right hand end of bar 12, and its interme diate portion guided by rollers 45. Movement of pitman 20 to the right, it will be seen, will traverse bar 12 to the right and for twice the distance that the pitman moves.

Similar flexible connection guided by rollers 51 and its end wheel 52 intermediately engaging a chain 53 with one'end fixed at 54, guided by rollers 55, and its other end socured to the left hand end of bar 12 will act to pull the latter when the pitman is moved to the left.

The pitman motions, it will be noted, are exerted on the bar 12 with endwise pulls only to successively move said bar in reverse directions as heretofore. This pulling movement avoids any tendency to buckle in the bar 12, and insures equal reciprocative movements of the cock boxes 10 spacedly mounted thereon and consequently equalized and uniform action of the slur cocks 9 on the series of sinkers 7 to effect the same loop formations of the latter irrespective of the direction of movement of the bar 12.

'By this improved operation of the bar 12, the heretofore imperfect fabric courses commonly produced due to the push and pull action on said bar, are avoided in a simple and eflicient manner, and the particular mechanism shown in Fig. 1 may readily be appl ed to known knitting machine construction with little change. And if desired the connecting rod 12 may be made of slighter material as all stresses are direct longitudinal pulls which tend to keep it taut with the cock boxes in perfectly spaced relation.

Fig. 3 indicates a modification of my mech anism, the bar 12 ,having end links 30 and 31 connecting it respectively to end levers 32 and 33 which are intermediately pivoted at 34 and 35 and their opposite ends connected by flexible connections 36 and 37 to their respective ends of the pitman 20", as shown.

From the foregoing description it is believed the nature of my improved construction and the advantages in operation and out 'put secured thereby will be readily understood. And I do not care to limit myself to the specific embodiments above fully described as modifications and changes may be readily devised within the spirit of my invention as defined in the following claims.

What I claim is:

1.- In a full fashioned knitting machine having a series of slur cocks each mounted to travel on afixed guide track, and a connecting bar fixedly spacing said slur cocks and longitudinally reversely movable to jointly reciprocate said slur cocks, means for moving said connecting bar comprising a conlier mechanism having a pitman longitudinally reciprocated in spaced parallel relation to said connecting bar, and connections from each end of said pitman to the opposite end of said connecting bar to reversely move said bar in like directions with said pitman by similar alternating endwise pulls on said bar whereby equal spaced relations of' said slur cocks are constantly maintained in both directions of their movements.

2. In a full fashioned knitting machine having a series of slur cocks each mounted to travel on a fixed guide track, and a connecting bar fixedly spacing said slur cocks and longitudinally reversely movable to ointly reciprocate said slur cocks, means for moving said connecting bar comprising a coulier mechanism having a pitman longitudinally reciprocated in spaced parallel relation to said connecting bar, flexible extensions at each end of said bar having their ends fixedly secured, and extensions from each end of said pitman having a movable intermediate engagement with the flexible extensions atthe opposite end of said bar to reversely move said bar in like directions with said pitman but for an increased distance in each direction by similar alternating endwise pulls on said bar whereby equal spaced relations of said slur cocks are constantly maintained in both directions of their movements.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

BRUNO E. PFUELLER. 

